Prepared fuel for gas-producers.



,UN r D-srArEs PATENT orrrcni HENRY L. DOHERTY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PREPARED UEI. Eo GAs-PaonuoERs.

No Drawing.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it .known that I, HENRY L. Down, a' citizen" of the United States, and a resident of New,York city, in the county of New York and State of 'New York, have invented certain new and useful. Improvements in Prepared Fuel for Gas-Producers,

of which the following is aspecification."

This invention relates to a prepared fuel for gas producers.

The object of my invention is to provide a fuel for gas producers which will permit of the operation of 'the producers without the objectionable formation of clinkers.

fuel for gas producers produced by mixing with 'the.fu'el a :suitable material which'is capable of combining with the ash of the fuel to form an easily fusible compound.

The ash, as it is liberated by the combustion of the carbon of the fuel, is thus caused to'unite with the flux to form a silicate, fluid at the temperature of the gas producer. This runs down through the interstices of the charge and collects in the bottom of the gas producer,-' from whence it is tapped off at intervals.

, The method of operating gas producers i with my prepared fuel, I havedescribed and clalmed in my Letters Patent No. 1,0f9,- 866, dated Aug. 12, 1913, which appllcation was filed of even date with this,,and fully discloses, but does not .-claim',-the invention which is the subject of this present application. The material which I use as a flux and the quantity thereof which} add tothe fuel depends entirely upon the composition and quantity of the ash of the fuel. Iron Specification of'Lettei's Patent.

as steam.

Briefly, my invention comprises a prepared ash-zone in a fairly fine condition to facilitate its reactmg with the 'ash particles.

If burned limestone is used to mix with the fuel it can, of course, be readily reduced to b rated by the heat of the reaction and lost Next to limestone'or lime the most avail able materlal for use as a flux 1s iron oxid.

In the form of impure iron ores this mate rial may be obtained in many parts of this country, at a cost little in excess of that of richer iron'ores are smelted. As both the j ferric and ferrous silicates are usually quite fllSlblB, (e. g. alomandite and fayalite)- such '75 ores provide an easily procurable and satisfactory basic flux; Since this is usually what is required to make-the ash of a fuel fusible, in the majority of cases a properly selected iron ore will suffice as a flux without the addition of any other material.

In the majority of cases the infusibilityof ash is caused by the presence of an excessive proportion of elther alumina or silica.

vWhile in some combinations with iron and the g5 either infusible or fusible. with diflicultyr 90.

Generally, therefore, the fusibllity of a silicate diminishes with the increase in the pro,-

.portionfof the total base furnished by the alumina. Therefore, where the proportion r Patented Aug. 17, 1915. Application filed January 17,1911. Serial No. 603,083. .1

mining, since,,in modern practice, only the ore, limestone, and limeconstitute the most of alumina is unduly hig)h', I add the proper.

generally available materials. Mo'st other proportlon of base (Ca o r Fe,O,) orbase substances which are chemically suited for antl-slllca to form some e'aslly fusible double.

use as fluxes are not available on account of silicate of iron and alumina. When the theircost. A cheap and readily procurable alumina 'is' relatively low and. the infusimaterial isg'of course, essential. I I v i 1 Of the substances mentioned, limestone 18' 'SIVG proportion of silica, a small 'quantlty bility of the ash is due simply to an excesthe cheapest and the ione most generally available. *The' most serious ob ect1on to its use is the factv that it mustwberather finely and CO during theperiod inwhich' it -is which must be met, that the limestone should reach the ash-zone of the I oughly calcined. It, is also nnportant that the calcined stone or lime should reach the roducer "thorof base alone will usually sufliceto furnish the ingredients for the formation-of'a suitable silicate. It is usually cheaper, however, when iron oxid is the basic flux usedto add .the oxid .in the form of an ordinary impure I iron ore even thou hit contains a consider able proportion o gangue. rather than to prepare a pure oxid' of iron by some from of I concentration.

used as the flux there 1s usually no dlfiiculty in obtaining it fairly .pure. The increase in en lime or limestone is.

- the bulk the mineral matter in the fuel,

which is' a necessary consequence of my invention, is, in no sense, objectionable by my method of operating a gas producer on the prepared fuel which is the subject of. this application, since the ash may be tapped out as frequently as is necessary, without occasioning'any interruption in theoperation of the producer.

It is obvious that the exact proportion of flux added to the fuel will depend upon the composition of the ash of the fuel and upon the kind and purity of the flux itself. The

ash of a Buck Mountain anthracite will have approximately the following composition, v1z-.:

SiO 4:5. 60% A1 0 42. 75% Fe O 9.43% CaO -i 1. 4.1% MgO 33% Other ingredients.. i 7.48%

The proportion of ash in the coal would be aboht 9%. In a ton of coal there would therefore. be the following weights of ash forming ingredients, viz.:

Estimating the MgO in its equivalent of :lime, we can take the lime as 3.3 lb. For

forming a silicate'of easy fusibility the lime should be at least equal in Weight to the alumina, if lime is to be the flux used. Therefore the quantity of lime added should be about 76.93.3=73.6 lb. In" this case, owing to the abnormally. high alumina, there is a deficiency in the proportion of SiO also. Therefore, with the lime, I1addthe proper quantity of silica, as sand, to bring the proportion. of silica in the ash mixture up to a' weight about equal to the sum of the weights of alumina and lime. are 82.1 lb. of silica already present in the about (7 69-1-76?) minus 82.1:7L7 lb.

It is of course to be understood that I do not limit myself to a fuel prepared with the Since there i I day of J anuary ash, the quantity of sand required would be. I

exact proportions of flux given above.- According to my specific invention it is necessary, only, that there be. present in the mixture, in available form, a proportion ofa basic material other than alumina, 'at least equivalent in combining power to the alumina present, and a proportion of silica sufficient to establish a mixture of ash-forming ingredients, as the same are liberated by combustion, that" will form a cinder liquid below 2600 F. The mineral matter in the ash is thus reduced to a liquid conditionv as fast as it is formed, with the result that it flows to the hearth of the gas producer,from which it is tapped out'at intervals.

Having described my invention, what I 4 claim 1s:

1. An artificially prepared fuel formed by adding to natural carbonaceous fuel containing alumina a proportion of a basic maf terial other than alumina at'least equivalent in combining power to the alumina present,

to establish with the natural ash of the fuel,

as the'saidash is liberated by combustion, a mixture of ash formingingredients fusible below 2600 F. j

2. An artificially-prepared fuel which is composed of a mixture of coal in major proportion and ash-forming ingredients in minor proportion, the said ash-forming ingredients comprising limestone or lime, and silica in such proportions that the total bases other than alumina will beat least equivalent in combining power. to the alumina present, and the total silica sufficient to form a silicate with the bases originally present andthose added that will fuse below 2600 F.

3. An artificially-prepared fuel which is :composed of a mixture of coal, limestone or lime, iron compounds and s1l1ca in such pro- J. M, McMnmm, F. L. BnAokBUnNJ 

